


hailstones beating on the roof, the bourbon is 100 proof, and you and me, and the telephone, our destiny is quite well known

by bloodredcherries



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, past Gladys Jones/FP Jones II, past Hal Cooper/Alice Cooper
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-10-23 21:55:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17691815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodredcherries/pseuds/bloodredcherries
Summary: “Where the hell did my mom go?” Jellybean demanded. “What did the two of you do with her?”“I--” Veronica had been rendered speechless. This girl was nothing like the sister that Jughead had mentioned, who she knew he missed very deeply, and to say she was horrified was putting it mildly. “I--”“Your mom asked us to take you with us to meet her,” Reggie interjected, and she nodded along, privately wondering what the hell he was thinking. “You were sleeping, she didn’t want to bother you.”“More like she didn’t want to be bothered,” their newfound companion replied. “Figures. Even here she just leaves me with random teens.”“What are you talking about?”The girl rolled her eyes, and she shouldered her duffle bag. “She fed me all this bullshit about how we were going to be a team here, you know, me and her against Jug and Dad? How she was going to get all this money from the Man in Black, like that doesn’t sound like the b-plot of a terrible sitcom or something, and how we were going to be golden.” She sighed. “It probably doesn’t even exist. The money never does."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this story is AU from the Veronica/Gladys/Reggie scene. It acknowledges some aspects of canon after that fact but the scene in the trailer with the Jones 'family' does not occur.

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” Veronica said, as she watched Gladys Jones drive off in Reggie’s car, the tires squealing as she went. “I’m not doing it,” she continued. “I won’t keep her secrets for her. I am so damn tired of keeping everyone’s secrets.” 

 

“Jughead promised me protection,” she continued. “I can’t have him  _ hurt _ by this woman, who what? Ditches him when he needed her most, and only rolls back to town because my mother offered her drugs?” 

 

“We were in middle school,” Reggie supplied. “When Jughead’s mother left. Took his sister and ran. Never really understood why.”   
  


“And now she’s  _ stolen _ your car,” she added. “Fine, blackmailed us into giving it to her, whatever. That’s  _ still _ illegal. I am so tired of fighting my parents battles for them,” she said. “I won’t have myself be party to ruining Jughead’s life. He’s my friend.” 

 

“What do you think we should do?” Reggie asked, and she glanced up at him. “I don’t exactly think that Jughead is going to believe us telling him that his mother is a blackmailing drug dealer, Ron,” he said. “It does seem kind of farfetched, doesn’t it? Plus, you know, me and him, we don’t have the best relationship. You make  _ one  _ necrophilia joke, and you’re branded for life.” 

 

“It was more than one joke, and you know it,” she said, and she rolled her eyes. “Think, Reginald. We’re going to go to the Sheriff.” 

 

Reggie’s eyes widened to comically large heights, and Veronica resisted the urge to stare openly at him, choosing instead to pull out her phone and request an Uber, not at  _ all  _ acknowledging the fact that there was a car sitting there, with the keys in it. She was not going to be part and parcel to Gladys nailing them for grand theft auto. Her previous experience in the clink had been bad enough. She wasn’t keen to repeat it. 

 

“There’s someone in there,” Reggie pointed out, his tone low, and Veronica bit back a sigh. “I don’t think it’s one of her goons, though,” he said. “Kind of looks like a kid.” 

 

“What?” 

 

“Jughead’s got a sister, you know,” he said. “Maybe it’s her?” 

 

Veronica eyed Reggie, and then she eyed the car, wondering what the hell he was talking about. What type of parent would  _ leave _ their child in an abandoned vehicle, she asked herself. The idea was absolutely preposterous. Except, was it really? They were talking about someone who had abandoned her son, more times than Veronica could count, and she had only known Jughead for an approximate year and a half. Still, she was somewhat leery of seeing if it  _ was _ Jughead’s sister in the car, and not some sort of small, tiny, adult. 

 

The decision was made for her, and by extension Reggie, when the door to the backseat opened, and a small girl came out of the back, a beanie on her head, and a scowl on her face. The resemblance to Jughead by the facial expression alone was uncanny. 

 

“Where the hell did my mom go?” Jellybean demanded. “What did the two of you do with her?”

 

“I--” Veronica had been rendered speechless. This girl was  _ nothing _ like the sister that Jughead had mentioned, who she knew he missed very deeply, and to say she was horrified was putting it mildly. “I--”

 

“Your mom asked us to take you with us to meet her,” Reggie interjected, and she nodded along, privately wondering what the hell he was thinking. “You were sleeping, she didn’t want to bother you.” 

 

“More like she didn’t want to be bothered,” their newfound companion replied. “Figures. Even here she just leaves me with random teens.” 

 

“What are you talking about?” 

 

The girl rolled her eyes, and she shouldered her duffle bag. “She fed me all this bullshit about how we were going to be a team here, you know, me and her against Jug and Dad? How she was going to get all this money from the Man in Black, like that doesn’t sound like the b-plot of a terrible sitcom or something, and how we were going to be golden.” She sighed. “It probably doesn’t even exist. The money never does. To tell you the truth? I think she’s just pissed off that the old man made himself legit on us, and for Alice Cooper, whomever she is.” Jellybean shook her head. “I don’t know why she’s mad at Jughead, though,” she added. “I didn’t know that I would have to be against him, too, until we were coming here.” 

 

“Is that a slingshot?” Reggie asked, and he sounded impressed.

 

There were  _ many _ questions that Veronica wanted to ask the young girl, and she had no idea where to begin, but, she had to be honest, and admit that asking her about her slingshot? Not on the list. 

 

“Yeah, of course it is,” she said. “Haven’t you ever seen one before?” 

 

“Can I use it?” 

 

“No, it’s mine.” 

 

“Reggie!” 

 

“What? It was just a question.” 

 

Fortunately for Reggie, their vehicle arrived. 

 

“Where are we going?” Jellybean asked, her slingshot entirely too close to Veronica for Veronica’s sense of comfort. “Mom wouldn’t tell me.” 

 

“It’s a surprise,” she told her. “Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing bad.” 

 

Veronica Lodge wasn’t used to dealing with children. She wasn’t exposed to them very often, and when she was, they were the prenaturally put together offspring of Hiram’s associates, and not exactly what anyone would consider normal. However, she did have the knowledge of what normal children behaved like, and Jellybean Jones? Was abnormal in the opposite direction. 

 

“I know who you are,” she said. “You’re Archie’s ex-girlfriend. He told me about you when he came to visit and Mom made him move to Canada.” 

  
  


***

  
  


“I understand that you’re worried about going tonight,” FP said into the phone for what felt like the millionth time, as Alice continued to explain in many  _ different _ ways how little she wanted to go to relive Ascension Night, her tone sounding more and more panicked with each breath she took. “Look, Al, what do you want me to say? I don’t particularly want to be there either.” He shook his head.

 

Wasn’t the farm supposed to make Alice less neurotic? He had sworn that she insisted this was the case, like a farm claiming to heal people wasn’t capable to sending off a zillion warning signs off in her brain. He sighed. He was starting to worry about her.

 

“Meet me here,” he offered. “At the office. We can go together.” 

 

“Aren’t you worried about what people might think of us?” Alice demanded on the other end of the line, and he worried his lower lip. “Always were worried about that before.” 

 

“I don’t care what people will think about us, Alice,” he insisted. “I’m sorry about what I did before. I’m sorry, okay?” 

 

“Are you really?” Alice questioned. “You’re sorry you blew me off all those times to fuck the Vixens?” 

 

“We were--” He cut himself off, and forced himself to recollect. “Of course I’m sorry, Alice,” he said. “They meant nothing to me, even back then, and they mean even less to me now. You’re the one that I care about.” He sighed. “And I’m tired of hiding this.” 

 

“What?” She demanded. “Is my line going bad? Or are my ears  _ actually _ telling me that you don’t want to hide our relationship anymore?”   
  


“I don’t want to hide our relationship anymore,” he confirmed. “Hell, come over now,” he said. “Got no one here, nothing to do, I’m bored as hell.”

 

Alice coughed. “I have to do my devotionals. And you really shouldn’t be tempting fate, FP...” 

 

“Do ‘em here,” he said. “I’ll bend you backwards over my desk and…” 

 

She giggled.

 

He grinned.

 

“Yeah, alright,” she said. “I guess I can come over.”

 

“Alright, babe,” he said. “I’ll see you.” 

 

FP placed the phone in the cradle, satisfied with a job well done, and he tried to brush Alice’s comment about tempting fate to the side. Ever since Hal had tried to kill her, she had been more fatalistic than usual, even by her standards. He was just glad that she was willing to come see him, and go with him to the high school later. In truth, he felt guilty. He couldn’t blame Alice for thinking he was shit, that he was the same dick he’d been in high school. 

 

For Alice, there was high school, and then there was married life, and there was nothing in between, and he suspected that it affected her more than she’d ever let on. It was one thing to discover that your husband of twenty-five years was a serial killer, he supposed. It was another to discover that your husband of twenty-five years, whom you were married to while you were still in high school, to the day that you turned eighteen, was a serial killer. 

 

It was no wonder she was floundering. 

 

FP knew that Betty didn’t get it. She thought that her mother had lost it, and, it was possible that Alice had, at least on some level. The farm thing was definitely one of the most ridiculous things that Alice had ever done. And she had done some pretty ridiculous things. 

 

But it had to be hard, and he understood that. 

 

Hell, he was pretty damn sure that he still had the book on fucking up written, regardless of all the efforts he’d made and how much he’d tried to better himself. Jellybean still wasn’t speaking to him (and she was now also not speaking to Jughead), and whatever, he had earned that. He was sure that she was pissed off because he’d contacted Gladys to -- finally -- ask for a divorce. Whatever hopes he’d had for them having a relationship had died prior to him arriving in Toledo, but he’d needed to make sure that the boy had understood, before he did anything legal. He knew that Jughead had always hoped that he and Gladys would work it out someday. 

 

She was just...he couldn’t do it. He was really putting in the effort to at least try to do better, to be a decent dad, hell, he was the  _ fucking _ damn Sheriff (even if he had gotten the job because Hermione owed him in return for him shooting the waste of space that was Hiram Lodge), he didn’t need to be tied to the most toxic person he knew. 

 

He didn’t want it to cost him Jellybean, but, if it did, he would understand. Gladys was her mother, after all. 

 

He perked up when he heard the sound of footsteps, though he wondered how the hell Alice had managed to get from her house to the Sheriff’s station so damn quickly. He guessed it was in the realm of possibility. She wasn’t exactly known for believing in big laws, so he supposed that she was fully capable of ignoring the speed limit. He spat his nicotine gum into the trash can he kept under his desk. Alice hated the taste. 

 

“Al--what are you two doing here?” He demanded, though he tried to temper his annoyance at Veronica and Reggie not being Alice by offering them a smile. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

 

“Three of us, Mr. Jones,” Veronica insisted. “Reggie and I have something that we need to talk to you about.” 

 

He glanced warily between the Lodge girl and the Mantle boy, before he noticed that the latter was holding fast to the arm of the mysterious third person, and he nodded at him. “Who’ve you got there?” 

 

“You said that you were taking me to my mom, not to him,” a familiar voice demanded, and he caught a glimpse of who was speaking, and he felt his pulse quicken, unsure of what Veronica Lodge and Reggie Mantle were doing with his daughter, who, he might have added, was supposed to be in fucking Toledo. “You two are full of shit.” 

 

“JB?” FP questioned, unsure if this was a dream. “Is that really you?”   
  


“I fell asleep in the car on the way here, and when I woke up, Mom was  _ gone _ and the two of them were there, staring  _ stupidly _ at me, if it really matters to you.” 

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“I’d like to know that, too,” she whined. “They said they were bringing me to Mom, and then we showed up here.” 

 

“I meant, why are you in Riverdale? Shouldn’t you be in Toledo?”

 

“That’s what we came here to talk to you about,” Veronica said, her tone hesitant. “It appears that Mrs. Jones--”

 

“She ain’t Mrs. Jones anymore,” he said, his tone flat. The last thing he needed was an irate Alice on top of the Lodge girl, his estranged daughter, and Marty Mantle’s son. He could handle the three of them, he did not think any of them wanted to handle the disaster hearing about Mrs. Jones would be after he’d just spent quality time convincing Alice she was his woman. “We’re getting a divorce. I don’t care what she thinks anymore. Sorry, JB.” 

 

JB scowled. “Whatever.” 

 

“She stole Reggie’s car,” Veronica said. “Because she was going to buy the Jingle Jangle operation that Reggie and I burned, and we didn’t have enough money to pay her off. My mother said it was our problem now, and that we had to deal with it on our own.” The Lodge girl seemed rather interested in the floor. “She told us that we weren’t allowed to tell Jughead what she’s doing,” she continued. “I won’t lie to him about this. He’s my friend. He’s protecting me. Haven’t I screwed him over enough?”

 

“Then, after she blackmailed me into giving her my car, and she drove away, we discovered that Jughead’s kid sister had been in the car she abandoned. She clearly didn’t care that she left her.” 

 

“Jellybean--”   
  


“I told you, it’s JB now,” she snapped. “I don’t want to see you, Dad. I don’t want to have to do what she wants me to do.” 

 

“I know you don’t want to see me,” he assured her. It was blatantly obvious. “What does your mother want you to do?” FP dreaded to ask. 

 

“She wants me to...I’m mad at you, Dad, but I don’t want you to be involved,” JB said, her tone soft. “I don’t want you to lose your new job, and have Jughead and you mad at me. She said that I was your weakness.”

 

“You are, but, Jellybean, I don’t want you doing anything that you don’t want to do, okay? Why do you have all of your stuff with you?” 

 

“What was I supposed to do? Leave it in the car Mom jacked from some dude at a rest stop off the interstate? That’s a good way to never see anything of mine ever again.” 

 

“She claims that she’ll be sticking around,” Veronica supplied. “Jughead’s mother. I don’t know what she and my parents have planned, but, I want nothing to do with it. I also don’t think she should be involved. She’s a kid. She’s younger than we are.”

 

“She wanted us to move back in with you,” JB supplied. “At your trailer. So we could really sell the family act.” 

 

“You don’t have to do that, JB,” he assured her. “And the hell she is. She can stay there all she wants, I sure as hell am not going to be there, and neither are  _ you _ or your brother.” 

 

“Where are you going to go?” Veronica demanded. 

 

“We’re going to stay with my girlfriend,” he said. He was sure Alice wouldn’t mind. If he slipped a sedative in her oolong tea, she would probably be fairly amenable to it. Especially if they got to skip finishing the game. “You know her. Alice.” 

 

“Mom will be really mad,” JB said. He knew that. He wasn’t in the mood to be Gladys’s pawn, and he was even less amused that she thought there was nothing wrong with using their almost eleven year old as one. “Unless I did something to make her think I hated you,” she mused. 

 

“Yeah? What did you have in mind?” 

 

JB gave him a wicked grin. He briefly wondered whether he should be afraid. “Nothing big, Dad.  I just need to test out my slingshot.” 

  
  


***

  
  


“I didn’t mean to hit him in the head,” Alice heard a young voice insist, rather tearfully, as she made her way down the hallway to where FP’s office was, and she raised a brow. “Dad, are you alright?”

 

“I think you knocked him out,” a second voice said, which she recognized as belonging to Veronica Lodge, and she quickened her pace. “Mr. Jones? Are you okay?”

 

“That was a kickass shot, kid,” a male voice added, and Alice scowled, recognizing it as Reggie Mantle’s. “I think he’ll be alright. We should just leave him.”

 

Alice had positively no idea what they were talking about (minus the fact that it was pretty evident that the first person had knocked FP out, and that Lodge was benignly useless, while Mantle wanted to earn himself a prolonged lecture about teenage idiocy) but she had decided that she had heard quite enough. If FP wanted her attention, he knew better than to obtain it using things like faking physical distress. And, if he wasn’t faking whatever had happened? Well, Alice shuddered to think of what his fate would be if she left it in their hands. 

 

She shouldered open the door and placed the coffees she had picked up for them on the way on the nearest flat surface, and she surveyed the room, realizing with disappointment that FP was indeed laying on the ground, looking as if he had been hit by an object of some sort. 

 

“Would someone like to explain to me what is going on?” She forced herself to remain calm. There was no need to panic. She knelt down beside FP on the floor, and she pulled out her perfume, in order to spray it under his nose. “FP? Are you alright?” 

 

His eyes fluttered open, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “You look like an angel,” he informed her. “Hey, Allie. I’m tired.” 

 

“I have bad news for you,” she informed him. “Get up, you aren’t allowed to sleep. I think you’ve been concussed.” 

 

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Kid’s got a good aim. I taught her that.” 

 

“I didn’t mean to hurt him,” the voice from before insisted, and Alice squinted at the young girl, trying to make sense of what she walked in on. “He said it was okay to slingshot him.”

 

“FP Jones!” She chastised, as she bodily hauled him to his feet and shoved him in the nearest chair, before pulling out a penlight and shining it in his eyes. “You  _ told _ this child to slingshot you? For God’s sake, what were you thinking?” 

 

“You should probably slingshot me, too,” he supplied. “It’s okay, JB, I’m not pissed off at you, or nothing.”

 

Alice felt her brows raise to alarming heights. “It’s or  _ anything _ not or nothing,” she seethed. “Why in God’s name would I want to  _ slingshot  _ you? That is not how we solve our problems. You are our Sheriff!”

 

“I didn’t know what else to do, Alice,” he said. “Gladys has some bullshit planned. She’s involving the kids.”

 

“And your solution was to have this girl  _ slingshot  _ you?”   
  


“This’s my daughter, Allie,” he said. “Don’t you remember JB? Of course, she was a lot smaller, then.”

 

“Oh,” she said, her tone softening somewhat. “I’m sorry, JB. I didn’t recognize you at first.” 

 

“It’s whatever,” she muttered. “Dad said that we were staying with you.” 

 

Alice sighed. “I’m certainly not letting your father stay in his trailer, all alone, with a probable concussion,” she agreed. “That would be foolish of me.” 

 

“No, that’s not why,” he interjected. “You’re smarter at this than me,” he said. “If two people are still married and one of them takes their child out of state without telling them, is that kidnapping?”

 

“What?”

 

“She’s blackmailing those two,” he said, and he pointed to Veronica and Reggie. “Trying to get them to hide the fact that she’s come back to buy drugs. They destroyed the Jingle Jangle operation, and I guess she’s pissed.” Alice blinked. “I looked it up, Alice, when I got back from Toledo. It’s called interstate child abduction. She stole my daughter.” 

 

“And your solution to this was to have said daughter attack you with a slingshot?” Alice was not impressed. “I’m calling Sierra McCoy. This is outrageous. Did the two of you really destroy the entire operation?”

 

“We lit it on fire,” Veronica said. “Mom said that it was our problem now. Dealing with Gladys.” 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I thought you didn’t want me,” she whispered. “That’s what Mom told me.”

“There are  _ many _ things to unpack here, Alice,” Sierra insisted, as she and Tom entered the Sheriff’s office, in search of the harried blonde. To be honest, Sierra was sort of relieved that it appeared Alice was telling the truth, given her...unique world views, as of late. “Where is Forsythia? What happened to him?”

 

“It was an accident,” FP supplied. “I tripped.”   
  


“It’s JB,” a voice supplied. “Not Forsythia. Don’t call me that ever again.” 

 

“Right,” Sierra said. “JB. Hi, sweetheart. When did you get here?” 

 

“Whenever they brought me here,” she answered. “I don’t know the exact time. Does it matter? Did my mom really steal me?”

 

“I’m Ms. McCoy,” Sierra said, and she extended a hand to her in greeting. She had never had the opportunity to meet FP’s daughter before, but, there she was in the flesh. “You don’t have to go back to your mother, JB,” she said. “We’re going to make sure that you’re safe.” 

 

Alice Cooper was on the phone, she noticed. “No Elizabeth, I am not kidding you,” she heard her say, her voice rising with every word. “The two of you are to get out of that trailer right now -- wait, Betty, you are to get out of that trailer  _ after _ you get Jughead and FP’s things out of it, but you have to do it quickly. I don’t want you in there. No, you don’t get to ask questions, Elizabeth. Get here as soon as you can.” 

 

“So, I take it we’re not going to the high school?” FP questioned. Alice scowled. Sierra was just glad that that gaze was not directed towards her. “What, Al, it was just a question.” 

 

“I didn’t want to go there to begin with,” she said, as she gazed upward. “What do you think I would do, leave JB in the hands of Veronica Lodge?” 

 

“She did better at watching her than Gladys!”

 

“A tree stump would have,” she said. “No offense, Veronica. I think we can say that the bar was set incredibly low, can we not?”

 

“Would you like to explain what happened? One of you, any of you, all of you?”

 

“I told you what happened,” Alice insisted. “Gladys is planning some plot with the children, and the Mayor is involved, and so is this ten year old girl,” she gestured at JB, who was still clutching what appeared to be a slingshot. Sierra just sighed. “I showed up and FP started asking me all of these questions about interstate child abduction, which, I have to say? Do not entirely sound unfounded. You two realize how  _ terrible _ this looks, right? Not one of us thought to ask whether or not there was a custody agreement in place for Jellybean and Jughead when Gladys left town? We just assumed that FP was such a terrible parent that it was done on the up and up? I’ll take my blame for my portion, and I will shoulder Harold’s as well,” she snapped. “What about you, Sheriff Keller? Did you just think that it was okay to let Gladys leave with the child because FP had a history of negative engagements with the Sheriff’s Department?” 

 

“Where did you get that letter?” JB chimed in, and she pointed to the note from the Gargoyle King that Sierra had in her hand. “That’s  _ my _ stationary.” 

 

“What? Don’t be--”

 

“Shut up, Sierra,” Alice said. “Are you sure that this letter is on your stationary, JB?”

 

“Duh,” she said. “My mom borrowed some the other day. I don’t know why. I didn’t know the two of them were friends?” 

 

“We’re not,” Sierra told her. “We’re not friends at all.” 

 

Alice was back on the phone. “Fred, you have to get them out of there,” she heard her insist. Alice was never one for a typical hello. “The kids. They’re at Sunnyside, you have to go get them, please.” 

 

“Alice,” FP said. “Alice, they’re going to be fine. This is good news.” 

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

 

“Well, we know that Gladys is the one writing these notes,” he said. “That means we don’t have to go to the school and play the game. You don’t have to be scared, anymore, Allie.” 

 

Sierra and Tom exchanged a glance. “Allie?” 

 

“Oh, leave him alone,” she demanded. “He’s been concussed.” 

  
  


***

  
  


“And do I have to say anything on TV?” Jellybean questioned her father, having reluctantly decided that speaking to FP was the lesser of a long list of evils. “When your girlfriend is talking about us?”

 

“No, JB, not if you don’t want to,” he said. “I won’t make you do anything that you don’t want to do. I’m not like that.”

 

“And I don’t have to go back?” 

 

“No, JB, you’re not going back to her,” he said. “I swear to you.” 

 

She shrugged, not sure if she could trust him, but deciding that trusting him was the only thing she could do. “I am sorry that I knocked you out,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I would hit you that hard.”   
  


“Don’t worry about it, JB. I know.”

 

“I just want to talk to her!” JB heard a voice insisting in the other room, and she scowled. “Look, Alice, why can’t I talk to her?” 

 

“Because, Frederick, you can’t,” she heard the blonde say. “You and I are going to have a little discussion about why your behavior persists in disappointing me. We can do it now, so that you understand why I don’t want you around JB, or we can wait until  _ after _ I do my special report.” 

 

“What did I do now?” Mr. Andrews demanded. “Are you still mad because I won’t join the farm?”

 

“This has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the fact that as FP’s friend, it might have been the right thing to do to make sure that Gladys hadn’t kidnapped their daughter. And, for that matter, is there a reason that you never told FP that Gladys didn’t come up when he was in jail to watch Jughead? He was lead to believe that--”   
  


“Why does it matter?” JB asked. “Does it really matter that Mom took me? Dad?”

 

“Yeah, it matters,” he said. “You’re my daughter. I get that you hate me, and I deserve that, but you were still my kid. She shouldn’t have taken you from me. I didn’t know it was illegal back then because of how I was brought up, but, I know that it was now. And I don’t want that to ever happen to you again. You can hate me for as long as you want,” he said. “I don’t want you going back to her. She was going to gaslight you and she was involving you in things you shouldn’t be involved with, things that I wish your brother wasn’t involved with, but he is, and that failure is on me. I don’t want to fail with you, too. I probably already have, but…”   
  


“I thought you didn’t want me,” she whispered. “That’s what Mom told me.” 

 

“JB, that’s not true,” he told her. “I begged her to bring you back. She always had another excuse. I just...I had a lot of issues, kid. I still do. I never could quite get it together enough to fight this until now. It’s not an excuse, but, it’s the truth. I wish it wasn’t, because, I’m very ashamed.”

 

“It’s not all your fault, Dad.” JB forced the words to leave her lips. It wasn’t like they weren’t true, she just hated admitting them. “I’m sorry that I even thought about going along with her. I don’t want to ruin your life.” 

 

“Not your fault, Jellybelly. Can’t help that your mother has lost it.” 

 

The door opened, and Dad’s shiny new girlfriend came back in, and JB fixed her with a confused stare. She didn’t get why Alice even cared about what happened, either, but, yet, there they were. Life had gotten very bewildering for Jellybean in what seemed like a matter of a few hours.

 

“Hi, sweetheart. We’re going to be on air in five.” She watched as she brushed a kiss to her father’s cheek, before turning to her. “Did you want to be on television, JB? Or did you want to go in the other room, with the kids?”   
  


“It’s my choice?” 

 

“Yes, you get to choose.” 

 

“I’ll be with Dad on TV,” she said, after a moment. “As long as you won’t force me to talk.”   
  


“No, you don’t need to worry about that. Only if you want to.”

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yes, I know,” he told her. “She’s your daughter, and she--there’s something wrong with her, Alice. Where was her Blossom blood money? Why didn’t she use it?”

“This is Alice Cooper from RIVW live with Sheriff FP Jones and his deputy Tom Keller to report on an exclusive development in the Gryphons and Gargoyles deaths that have been sweeping Riverdale and its surrounding communities, leaving victims with blue lips, and using the marks of a mysterious figure that is known as the Gargoyle King,” Alice said, ever the professional, as she stood on the steps leading up to the Sheriff’s barracks, FP and Tom on either side of her, each of the men clad in uniform. “Sheriff Jones has a statement he would like to give on the subject.” 

 

It had been nice of FP to give Tom a job with him, she thought, though it did please her deeply that he was working under the man who he had spent quality time arresting for all those years. 

 

“We have recently discovered a probable suspect in the Gryphons and Gargoyles case,” FP said, “in addition to uncovering a major player in the drug distribution that has plagued both the town of Riverdale and the surrounding communities in Rockland County. A warrant has been placed for the arrest of Gladys Jones, currently based out of Toledo, Ohio on several felony charges. She is currently believed to be in the Riverdale area. If you see or have contact with Ms. Jones, or knowledge about her whereabouts, please contact Deputy Sheriff Keller at the barracks. He will be handling the case for the department.” 

 

“Please don’t hesitate to come forward,” Tom continued. “We have activated an anonymous tip line, and we would appreciate any at all knowledge that the public might have. This is a very serious investigation, the crimes this woman has been accused of are of a felonious nature.”

 

Jellybean, who had insisted on joining the men on the screen, was hiding behind her father. Alice, as promised, said nothing to the girl. It was clear to her that the child had been through quite enough at her young age, and she would do her part to stop her from experiencing more issues in her life, even if being FP’s girlfriend suddenly meant having to make room in her house for him, and his two children, and under such unfortunate circumstances. Still, she vowed to persevere. 

 

“Thank you for your time,” she said, and she smiled brightly at the two men, her gaze lingering on FP a moment longer. “This is Alice Cooper, reporting for RIVW. Now back to the studio.” 

 

In truth, she felt sort of ridiculous parading around in front of a camera, but she didn’t think that staying at home and burning through money and spending  _ all _ of her time at the farm was doing her any good. Truth be told, she was starting to suspect that the farm wasn’t doing her much good at all. Thanks to Harold, her paper was in the hands of the Lodges, and she had needed to do  _ something _ that wasn’t festering in the podunk murder town filled with boredom. 

 

So, news reporter, it was. 

 

Once the cameramen dispersed, she headed back into the building, pleased to feel FP’s hand on the small of her back. 

 

“Is Jugs here, Dad?”

 

“Yeah,” he said. “You want to see him?”   
  


“Yeah, I missed him,” she said. “Mom didn’t tell me, you know that, right?”   
  


“Tell you what?” 

 

“That he called and wanted to stay with us,” she said. “I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have let her not let him.” 

 

“It’s not your fault, JB.” 

 

“I’ll bring her to see him,” Tom offered. “Come on, JB.” 

 

“Alice, are you sure that you’re alright with us sharing your home?” FP asked, once they were finally alone in the hallway. “If you’re not, that’s fine. We can stay here.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “I don’t mind at all.”

 

“You sure?” He squeezed her hand. She nodded. “Why the hell are you even still living there?”   
  


“I couldn’t sell it,” she murmured. “No real estate agent would touch it. Not after what Hal did out here, and tried to do in there. They said it was a murder house.” 

 

“Let me help you, Alice,” he whispered. “Forget about the farm. Let me...let me be what you need, what your girls need. We could be a family together, couldn’t we?” 

 

“Polly said that if I leave the farm, she’ll leave me,” she said. “I don’t want her to leave me. She’s my daughter. Am I really that bad a parent?”   
  


“Forget her,” he said. “Alice, honestly. Do you really think that the farm is good for you? For Betty? She told me that you used her college fund to buy that convent that you stayed in while you were pregnant with Charles, is that really a good place for you to stay?” 

 

Alice shook her head. “She’s my daughter.” 

 

“Yes, I know,” he told her. “She’s your daughter, and she--there’s something wrong with her, Alice. Where was her Blossom blood money? Why didn’t she use it?”

 

Alice blinked. “Well, Betty told me that Polly had spent it on hair ribbons, but I had thought she was trying to get a rise out of me…” She drew in a deep breath. FP’s use of the word Blossom had reminded her about something she found absolutely unpleasant to think of. “Jason was the one who told her about this stupid farm. I joined something that was Jason Blossom’s idea. FP! Why didn’t you stop me?”   
  


“Didn’t really talk much to the Blossom boy,” FP admitted, as he shrugged his shoulders. “Didn’t even know who the girl he wanted to run away with was, Allie. Damn straight if I had known it was one of  _ your _ daughters I would have come to you. No matter how awkward that conversation would have been. Maybe this is my fault.” 

 

“No, honey, don’t say that.” 

 

“I mean, Jellybean is so fucked because of her mother,” he said. “God only knows what would have happened to her if Reggie and Veronica hadn’t found her and had the sense to bring her here.” 

 

“It’s going to be okay,” she told him. “You couldn’t have known.” 

 

“You know,” he sighed, as he pulled her close to him. “It’s interesting what you said to Fred on the phone earlier, how you didn’t understand why he hadn’t cared whether or not I had given Gladys permission to leave with Jelly.” 

 

“What do you mean?” 

 

“Just...making me wonder some things,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it now. I want the kids to be home, and safe,” he continued. “Maybe we can talk about it after they’re in bed. What are you doing?”   
  


“I’m texting Polly,” she said. “I want her out of my house before I get back.” 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Okay,” she said. “Is there a bedroom for me? I want my own bed.”

“Do we really get to stay here, Dad?” Jellybean asked, as FP pulled up in front of Alice’s house, and he parked the car and shifted in his seat to look at his baby girl. “I mean, woah, this is a house. Does your girlfriend really live here?” 

 

“Sure does, JB,” he told her. “You don’t remember Alice? Betty Cooper’s mom?” 

 

“A little bit,” she said, after a moment. “Why is she mad at Mr. Andrews?” 

 

FP remembered a time when Fred had been Uncle Fred to both Jughead and Jellybean, and he’d been Uncle FP to Red, and he bit back a sigh at the fact that there was likely no going back to what their relationship had been back then. It was true that he and Fred had been getting along better lately, though mainly because Archie had managed to get himself arrested and he and Tom had banded together to try to help their mutual friend out, but gone were the days that they were close enough to be considered brothers. On one hand, it made him sad, on the other, he had to admit that he was grateful for the distance, especially if Fred or Mary had had a hand in Gladys  _ stealing _ his daughter from him. 

 

Jellybean was eying him expectantly, clearly waiting for an answer. “Uh, well, JB, they don’t really get along,” he said after a moment. “I’m not really sure why specifically Alice is currently angry at Fred, but, uh, I’m sure that she’ll let us know. She’s real good at that.” 

 

“Okay,” she said. “Is there a bedroom for me? I want my own bed.” 

 

“Sure, kiddo,” he said. “I’m sure that there’s a bedroom for you, and your own bed,” he offered. “Maybe you’ll have to use a bed that’s already there, at least, at first, but I can take you furniture shopping. You can get a set of your own, okay? Do your room how you want?”

 

“Cool.” She flashed a grin at him. He found himself grinning (though rather nervously) back at her. “Are you sure that will be okay with Alice? I can call her Alice, right?”   
  


FP nodded. “Yeah, Jelly, you can call her Alice.” He really didn’t think that Alice would mind, given the fact that her estranged husband was a murderous serial killer. “If you want, I can make extra sure, but, I really don’t think she’ll mind. We’re going to be living together now,” he pointed out. “I guess that makes us sort of like a family.” 

 

“Even after your friend at work arrests Mom?” 

 

“Yeah, Jelly, even after that,” he said. “Don’t you want to live in a house? With a backyard?”

 

“And Hot Dog!” 

 

“I don’t know that Hot--”   
  


“Look, Dad, he’s right there,” she said, and he followed her gaze. Indeed, there Hot Dog was, nosing his way through Alice’s front yard, clearly oblivious to the fact that he was on the wrong side of town. “Can’t he stay with us?” She begged. “I missed him. Do you think he missed me?”

 

FP shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, I guess, Jelly,” he said. “Since he’s here and all. It would be mean to send him home, wouldn’t it?”

 

She nodded. “Can I say hi, Daddy?”

 

“Of course,” he said. “You go say hi to Hot Dog, and I’ll bring your stuff in.” That seemed fair to him. He also needed to warn Alice that Hot Dog was present. That was the right thing to do.

 

He got out of the car and slung Jellybean’s army bag over his shoulder, watching as she went over to Hot Dog and gave him a big hug. He sighed audibly as he bypassed them to where Alice was sitting on the steps, a cigarette in her hand. He dropped down beside her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

 

“You okay?” 

 

“I haven’t been okay in months,” she said, after a moment. “Since before this bullshit with Hal.” He heard her sigh. “Polly’s gone, Betty and Jughead are inside, they wanted to check the house in case it was bugged. I didn’t have the energy to protest something that was potentially likely.” She exhaled. “I’m so stupid.” 

 

“You’re not stupid,” he said, and he pressed a kiss to her temple. “You were lost, Al. You don’t think I’m familiar with what it’s like to be lost? To be searching for something that could fix me? For me, that’s alcohol. For you, it was this farm. I don’t blame you for seeking it out, Al. I blame them, including Polly, for dragging you into it.” 

 

“She looks happy,” Alice commented, and she gestured to Jellybean. “The kids asked me if I would allow the mutt,” she added. “Jughead, he said that Jellybean and Hot Dog had been close when he was a puppy. I certainly didn’t want to leave the dog to fend for itself over at the trailer park.” 

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I told them that Hot Dog was welcomed to stay,” she said. “I don’t see the harm, honestly.”

 

“I’m sorry, Alice,” he said. “I didn’t anticipate this happening. It wasn’t my intention to have to move in with you the day we decided that we would be official. I had no idea that Jelly--”

 

“You don’t have to apologize,” she told him. “I invited you to stay, and I meant that. You can stay forever, if you want.” 

 

“I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me.” It was the truth. FP loved Alice. He probably always had. He would do anything for her, and her kids, as well as anything for his own. He probably could have tried harder, on all counts. “I did tell JB that I would get her new furniture for her bedroom,” he added. “Is that all right? It’s your house.”

 

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she murmured. “Maybe I’ll redecorate it. Maybe  _ we _ can redecorate it. You, me, the kids? Make it our own? At the very least, JB can get herself a bedroom set.” She glanced up at him. “I’m sorry that she was stolen from you. I swear, FP. I didn’t know.” 

 

“It’s not your fault, Al,” he whispered. “How would you have known? We barely spoke. It made sense on the surface that she had divorced me and we’d split custody of the kids. Why would the average observer have thought otherwise? The important thing is that she’s here now.” 

 

Alice nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m glad that the Lodge girl and the Mantle boy brought her to you. I suppose they have a thimble’s worth of sense between them.”

  
  



End file.
